Alpes-de-Haute-Provence

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence is a department in the French region Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, and is on the French border with Italy. The area's scenery provides the background to many activities and sights.

Cities

• 1 Draix — a village of a hundred people under the Cheval Blanc mountain
• 2 Annot — it is well regarded for bouldering and is particularly popular among climbers, as the second biggest developed area of the kind in France
• 3 Barcelonnette — a tourist and resort centre, serving many ski lodges
• 4 Castellane — a very old city upstream of the Gorges du Verdon
• 5 Colmars-les-Alpes — an alpine village in the Verdon valley
• 6 Digne-les-Bains — natural beauty and supposedly curative thermal springs
• 7 Forcalquier — its citadel offers a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside
• 8 Manosque — a small town typical of Provence, in its history, and its art of living
• 9 Moustiers Sainte Marie — a gateway to the Gorges du Verdon
• 10 Sisteron — called the Gateway to Provence because it is in a narrow gap between two long mountain ridges

Other destinations

• 1 Verdon Gorge – an awe-inspiring gorge, sometimes called the "European Grand Canyon"

Understand

The department can be divided into two parts: the west and the south of the department are Provençal, while the north-east is more mountainous (Val d'Allos and Ubaye valley).

Get around

• The Train des Pignes, a private railway between Digne-les-Bains and Nice is worth a trip entirely for its own sake but it also provides a great way of getting to starts or ends of walks in the lovely Mountains if you base yourself at one place on it such as Annot or Entrevaux.

See

Terres noires

Do

Hiking, VTT, canyoning,

In summer many aerial sports use the surrounding mountains such as gliding, hang gliding and paragliding.

In winter there is extensive skiing at eleven ski resorts.

Go next

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence is bordered on the east with Italy.